This brief expert report analyses the extent to which the economic stimulus packages launched in 2009 have the potential to drive forward a fundamental and sustainable transformation of the economy or to create new "path dependencies", i.e. to encourage businesses to remain in traditional industries or production methods that have been identified as unsustainable. For these purposes, this study analyses the economic stimulus packages of Germany, Great Britain, South Korea and the USA and briefly presents the programmes of China and Japan. Only initial estimates can be made in the context of this study, assuming that every euro or dollar spent in a given area has a similar environmental impact.

Piria, Raffaele (2009): Bufera sulle scorie tedesche, in: Qualenergia, 2 marzo 2009. https://www.qualenergia.it/articoli/20090302-bufera-sulle-scorie-tedesche-1/

Piria, Raffaele (2008): Nucleare, una Fata Morgana in Finlandia, in Qualenergia. https://www.qualenergia.it/articoli/20081027-nucleare-una-fata-morgana-finlandia-1/

<p>There is growing interest in the idea of geoengineering, the purposeful and large-scale modification of the natural environment, especially since the article in Foreign Affairs "The Geoengineering Option" by David Victor and others. Jointly with the Foundation for the Good Governance of International Spaces, Ecologic Institute held this Transatlantic Luncheon in Washington DC on 22 April 2009. Guests of honour were Paul Berkman, Scott Polar Institute, University of Cambridge, and Ralph Czarnecki, Ecologic Institute.</p>&#13;&#13;

<p>&#13; In this presentation Ecologic Senior Fellow Ingmar von Homeyer provided an analytical overview of EU environmental governance from the early 1970s up to the present. He argued that EU environmental governance can be described as an amalgam of four to five environmental governance regimes which have successively been layered on top of each other over the past 35 years.</p>&#13;

The expanding use of biomass as an energy source has been accompanied by a growing range of certification and standard-setting schemes in an attempt to ensure the sustainability of biofuel production. The result has added to the confusion in an already crowded certification market, but an opportunity to develop a streamlined global standard-setting system arises from this complexity. In this article, Timo Kaphengst, Mandy Ma and Stephanie Schlegel of Ecologic Institute outline how some of the innovative ideas coming from the biofuel certification and standardisation discussions can be applied to create a global generic standard-setting scheme for natural resources.

At the International Scientific Congress “Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges &amp; Decisions”, experts presented a summary of scientific findings since the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment. The congress attracted broad international attention in the run-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-15) in Copenhagen in December 2009. In the session entitled “Integrating Climate Change into Global Sustainability”, Sandra Cavalieri presented transatlantic and international policy options to protect the Arctic marine environment that had emerged from the Arctic TRANSFORM project.

In this book chapter, Ecologic Senior Fellow Ingmar von Homeyer provides an analytical overview of EU environmental governance from the early 1970s up to the present. He argues that EU environmental governance can be described as an amalgam of four to five environmental governance regimes which have successively been layered on top of each other over the past 35 years.

Linking emissions trading schemes has attracted interest as a means of reducing costs and expanding market size and liquidity. A number of studies have explored the compatibility of schemes, although little attention has been devoted to the implementation of links. In an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Climate Policy, Michael Mehling, President of the Ecologic Institute in Washington DC, and Erik Haites, former IPCC lead author, identify mechanisms required for the establishment and operation of a trading link over time.

Sustainable energy and resource efficiency to be achieved through efficiency in energy use, renewable energy supplies, and technological innovation was the subject of a panel discussion presented by the German Federal Ministry for Environment on the occasion of the 15th Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in New York, NY, on 9 May 2007.&nbsp; R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute moderated the event.